Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Fifteen

He saw it the second before it happened.

The guns rising out of the windows, pointing at them. Ivy was right there. In the middle of their shot. She saw it before anyone else, trying to get the noise to crawl out of her throat, to warn everyone.

Harry's feet reacted first, closing the distance, one arm wrapping around her waist, the other shielding her head. They hit the ground with a thump, glass shattering above then raining down on them.

The sound exploded through the room. Pop, pop, pop. Over and over again. Yells and screams erupted out of everyone around them. He heard the unmistakable sound of a bullet tearing through flesh, the grunts of pain, and the endless smattering of shots hitting the hard plaster of walls.

He molded his body over Ivy's, her face completely covered, back pressed to his front with no space to spare. Glass littered his hair, his back, but he refused to move. He could feel her body tense underneath him. He tried to open his eyes to search her body. She was right there, the center of their target. He got to her fast, but it was too close a call.

Ivy was still breathing. That was all that mattered right then. Her breaths were short and rapid, much like his, adrenaline spiking in both of them.

The screeching of tires broke through, the gunfire finally slowing down. There's shouts in different languages, but nothing Harry cared to try and understand. His eyes finally opened, a few stray bullets hitting the building outside before completely stopping, the SUV's racing down the street, and he swept them over Ivy, everything going quiet.

Her head turned, eyes connecting with his. It wasn't fear or shock that emanated from them. No, it was concern, relief, and something else. It stopped him in his tracks as her hand pressed against his chest, not to push him off, but to push him up just enough to look over him. She turned quickly, eyes ripping from his to search his torso. Her hands slipped to his sides then his back, feeling up and down the expanse of it underneath his suit jacket. She checked again, making sure there were no bullet holes, no grazes.

It took her a moment to take it in. To believe he was fine, and when that wave of relief hit her, it nearly doubled him over. His breath came out shaky, her eyes closing, head dropping back to the floor. Her hands moved to his face, where they cupped his jaw, thumbs caressing his skin. Harry doesn't think she even realized what she was doing. This was all instinct.

Finally, he tore his eyes from her face, inspecting her. Her left arm had glass shards embedded in the skin where she turned just moments ago, scraping her bicep on the glass covered floor, but there was no other signs of injury. Nothing had hit her. He had gotten to her first.

The rush of sound erupted in his ears. He blinked, lifting off her and looked around. Griffin had a phone to his ear, speaking into it furiously. He was just off to the side, peering over his shoulder out the broken window, a gun held tightly in his hand as a precaution.

His father was there too, looking just as furious, but looking over the room. His cautious and accusing look was met and returned by many.

His attention was again stolen by Ivy. This time she was scrambling up and away from him. He followed her gaze to see the spot where her family was. It was chaos. He spotted one of their guards lying dead on the ground, blood leaking from a hole in his temple. The other was running towards the window past Harry to look out. Finn rushed over to Ivy, meeting her and checking her for wounds, but she pushed past him, dropping to her knees, not thinking twice about all the glass on the ground.

Her cousin, Willow was on the ground next to a body. There was blood on her, but most of it he suspected was from the older man she was crying over. It was Ivy's uncle, Tully. Bullet holes ripped through his chest, blood pooling around him. He was still breathing, yes, but just barely. Their friend, Astrid, was bending over his body trying to stop some of the bleeding, her own arm hit with a bullet and bleeding.